Sec. 303. Conservation Stewardship Program

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Section 1240I(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( 16 U.S.C. 3839aa–21(2) ) is amended— in subparagraph (A), by inserting enhancements, after practices, ; and in subparagraph (B)(v), by inserting and climate change before the period at the end. Section 1240J(a) of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( 16 U.S.C. 3839aa–22(a) ) is amended— in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 2023 and inserting 2030 ; and by striking paragraphs

(1)and

(2)and inserting the following: by maintaining, actively managing, and, where possible, improving upon existing conservation activities; and by undertaking additional conservation activities. . Section 1240K(a)(2)(B) of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( 16 U.S.C. 3839aa–23(a)(2)(B) ) is amended by striking improving, maintaining, and managing and inserting maintaining, actively managing, and, where possible, improving . Section 1240K(b)(3) of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( 16 U.S.C. 3839aa–23(b)(3) ) is amended by striking that national, State, and local priority resource concerns are effectively addressed and inserting that the program effectively targets improvements to soil health, increases in carbon sequestration, and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions . Section 1240K(e)(3) of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( 16 U.S.C. 3839aa–23(e)(3) ) is amended to read as follows: agrees, by the end of the contract period, to meet the stewardship threshold of at least 2 additional priority resource concerns on the agricultural operation, if applicable. . Section 1240L(a)(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( 16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(a)(2) ) is amended by inserting (which may include climate change adaptation and mitigation) after priority resource concerns . Section 1240L(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( 16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(c) ) is amended— in paragraph (1)(B), by striking improving, maintaining, and managing and inserting maintaining, actively managing, and improving ; and in paragraph (2)(E), by inserting , actively managed, and, where applicable, improved after maintained . Section 1240L(f) of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( 16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(f) ) is amended— by striking fiscal years 2019 through 2023 and inserting any consecutive 5-year period ; and by inserting (including joint ventures and general partnerships) before the period at the end. Subchapter B of chapter 4 of subtitle D of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 ( 16 U.S.C. 3839aa–21 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: In this section, the term agricultural professional means university researchers and educators, including extension agents and specialists, Federal agency field staff, agricultural consultants, State and local agency staff, tribal agency staff, Federally-Recognized Tribes Extension Program agents, and nonprofit organization staff assisting farmers and ranchers at the local level. Out of the funds made available to carry out this chapter, the Secretary may pay the cost of competitive grants that are intended to stimulate innovative approaches on farms and ranches to leverage Federal investment in conservation stewardship, in conjunction with agricultural production or forest resource management, through the program. The Secretary shall carry out on-farm conservation innovation projects on eligible land of program participants— directly with producers participating in the program; or through partnerships between agricultural professionals and small groups of program participants. The Secretary may provide grants directly or through partnerships under this section to agricultural operations enrolled in the program, or groups of such operations, on a competitive basis, to carry out projects that— facilitate on-farm research and demonstration or pilot testing of new technologies or innovative conservation systems and practices that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize agriculture; facilitate on-farm research and demonstration or pilot testing of practices and systems with proven high impact for greenhouse gas emissions reduction and decarbonization with low national or regional adoption rates; or help prepare program participants for participation in environmental services markets that have as a primary goal greenhouse gas emissions reduction or decarbonization of agriculture. In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall enter into agreements with producers (either directly or through governmental or non-governmental organizations involved in a partnership) on whose land an on-farm conservation innovation trial is being carried out to provide payments to the producers to assist with adopting and evaluating new or innovative conservation approaches to achieve conservation benefits. Payments shall reflect the direct costs of the research and demonstration and compensation for foregone income, as appropriate to address the increased economic risk or lower economic return potentially associated with the innovative conservation approach. Adjusted gross income requirements under section 1001D(b)(1) shall— apply to producers receiving payments under this subsection; and be enforced by the Secretary. A governmental or non-governmental organization participating in an on-farm conservation stewardship innovation partnership project under this subsection shall report annually to the Secretary on the amount of payments made to individual farm operations under this subsection. The Secretary may provide partnerships under this section with up to $50,000 per project for research, technical assistance, and administrative expenses. An agreement entered into under paragraph

(1)shall be for a period determined by the Secretary that is— not less than 2 years; and if appropriate, more than 2 years, including if such a period is appropriate to support— adaptive management over multiple crop years; and adequate data collection and analysis by a producer or partnership to report the natural resource and agricultural production benefits of the new or innovative conservation approaches to the Secretary. .

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16 USC 3839aa–21(2)
16 USC 3839aa–22(a)
16 USC 3839aa–23(a)(2)(B)
16 USC 3839aa–23(b)(3)
16 USC 3839aa–23(e)(3)
16 USC 3839aa–24(a)(2)
16 USC 3839aa–24(c)
16 USC 3839aa–24(f)
16 USC 3839aa–21

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Sec. 303

Conservation Stewardship Program

Cite16 USC 3839aa–21(2)

Cite16 USC 3839aa–22(a)

Cite16 USC 3839aa–23(a)(2)(B)

Cite16 USC 3839aa–23(b)(3)

Cite16 USC 3839aa–23(e)(3)

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